06/28/2022
And to learn more about dog body language, check out Lili Chinās Doggie Language book that you can review with your children.
A GENTLE REMINDER ABOUT KIDS AND DOGS -
Unfortunately, we often see dogs brought to shelters or owner surrendered due to events that can transpire between children and dogs. The shelters are full. This post is to create awareness and to hopefully put yourself in your dog's presence.
Dogs do not know better with children and children do not know better with dogs. For example, negative interactions between kids and dogs can include "space". If a dog is eating, or doesn't feel well on a given day they need their space, haven't had an outlet to exercise, or God forbid have a high value bone (we never recommend high value treats around children) it is a situation set up for potential disaster. What if your dog has aged and has less tolerance? Or has arthritis, aches, pains they can't tell you about? Dogs often will not show pain until it's more than they can hide. And dogs definitely cannot tell us when they might have less tolerance. Adults can often see the body language if paying attention however children cannot discern when a dog is asking for space. For instance a child is alone with your dog and your dog moves away to try to gain space however the child follows and keeps violating the space being requested. Eventually a dog can get frustrated and lose his/her tolerance therefore reacting negatively and then guess who'd fault it is.............. It's unfair to ask any dog or child to be perfect in a situation where their tolerance is being exhausted over and over and over again.
As with humans dogs also have a threshold they can reach. We often see pictures of children hugging dogs.........getting in their face and personal space, laying on them, etc. It is known that dogs don't like to be hugged but some will tolerate it and appearing to enjoy it. Also, often kids are very energetic and have unpredictable energy which can make your dog very uncomfortable; they will tolerate it but it can be very tiring for him/her thus leading to less tolerance on the dog's behalf..............just as humans for instance who have not had sleep in 3 days...........less tolerant but we are more equipped to handle this.
Please, if you have children and dogs, consider making sure (if you don't already) that your dog has his/her own time during the day to play with you, get enrichment through games/outings/training, and of course exercise. Please make sure they get a break. If a dog does not have his/her own outlet daily they can very likely be less tolerant! If you don't feel you have all the answers please reach out to a quality Trainer for advice how you can make the relationship between your children and dogs strong with a mutual respect! If you would like to learn more from a Trainer please reach out to us and we can refer you to Trainers we work with! Its best to do this when there are no problems. Why wouldn't we all want this for our family balance? We can assure you planning ahead and having the tools/knowledge for your family, which has to come from the adults, will potentially avoid a much bigger more costly situation for your family in the future both financially and emotionally!